what are some common day phrases created by the railroad?

Answer 1

Wow. There's a lot, if I understand your question. If you mean what railroad jargon has become a part of the day to day English lexicon, I can only think of the words "highball", a term most associate with an evening cocktail before dinner, and "switchback", used to describe a road that reverses itself along a horizontal line while climbing a steep hill. In railroad terminology, highball means GO. A switchback is the same as described above for a roadway, except an actual switch is used to reverse direction.

If you are asking what are terms used on the railroad by employees, the list gets lengthy. I'll list some, but without an history lesson. Some represented here also may be a "dialect", if you will, used regionally, from past to present.

Locomotive: Loco, engine, motor, power, donkey, power consist, puffer billy, goat, helper, pusher, jeep, cadillac, cow and calf, she.
Caboose: Crummy, shack, cab.
Engineer: Hogger, eagle eye, hoghead, hogineer, throttle jockey, high stepper.
Fireman: Tallow pot, belly robber, piglet.
Brakeman: Brakey, head man, rear man, swing man.
Switchman: Snake, pot, yardlet.
Service facility: Roundhouse, barn, ramp, house, pit, shop, sand track, cab track, rip track.
Cafe: Beanery, greasy spoon.
Eat: Go to beans.
Cars, including passenger cars can be: Spotted, buried, turned, pulled, a baby load, rattlers, racks, reefers, oil cans, hog troughs, shorts, varnish, heavy weights, the ten car, palace, kicked, dropped, lung-ed, shot gunned, mill run.
Other terms: Flimseys, jewels, sharks mouth, hot box, dynamiter, dutch drop, hump, one spot, cut off, M(s), take the tortuga, booming, jobbing, short turn, old head, scissor bill, bail block, jam, denny button, blow down, clinkers, big hole, pump up, short cycle, wipe the clock, pull the plug, chippie, snake head, frog, high iron, main stem, fill, reduce, pick up, set out, line back, caller, call boy, cinders, car toads, car knockers, speeders, knuckles, pigs, drags, stingers, high rail, gate, stub switch, submarine switch, v switch, split switch, herder, call on, hostler, wheeler, carry the tag, bump, bid, cab hop, milk run, torpedo, gun, skid 'er back, in the corner, company notch, bald headed joint, make the rubber, bleed off, ride out, boot, cornfield meet, saw by, double head, double the hill, dead on the law, dead head, run in, run out, used off, bush bunnies, weed weasels, smoke house, sand house, in the light, first out, shove the lead, in the ditch and many more. I'm sure someone will add more.

Answer 2

doubleover, crossover. coupling, in the clear, big brake, little brake, put down some sand, runaway, hanging up, flying up, murphy, outlaw, 8 hrs rest, 10 hrs rest, not rested, railroad bull, bullpen, crewroom, groundpounder, throttle jockey, we've come into, broken knuckle, take vittles, emtys, lds, takin on water, slippin, out of clearence, run around, and so on.

Answer 3

Are you out of puff